There were many talented runners at this race and we saw the best competition of the season so far. With that being so, Jayden Hoidahl ran a fantastic race. He has been pushing to break 19 minutes for a while and he did it this week. He found the right pack to chase down and pushed himself the entire time. Afterward, he started talking about his next goal and looking at now breaking 18 minutes.

Like Jayden, most runners hit their season best on a difficult course. The team used each other's energy and found packs of other runners to pace themselves. The final hill was a challenge for all runners in the race, but our tea took it as a challenge. As a coach, it was satisfying to see this team lean in and dig that last hill whereas other runners lost their stride. Moving forward this season, that mindset is going to be the testament to our success.

On the girls' side of things, Ashley Paulson ran a fantastic race. Every race, she learns a little more about strategy and who to run with. Before the start, she told me she was feeling fast and she proved it, shaving almost a minute off her previous best time. Vy and Quynn also had great runs. Both of them have been battling injuries and are not 100% healthy, but they want to race and are working at getting where they want to be.

Full race results for the Long Prairie Invitational can be found at https://raceberryjam.com/indexcc.html

We race Thursday at New London Spicer.